A physician's reflections with certainty in medicine

<p>"Lacking a supreme being in which to place our faith, my wife and I decided to make the most difficult decision of our lives and discontinue life support. I still wonder if we made the right decision, question whether fear made us give up too early, and these chronic doubts cut with the acuity of scalpels. But I also know that certainty is a fading flame in a failing body, and in a godless universe, sometimes a 'best guess' is all you have to go on."</p> <p><a href= "https://www.linkedin.com/in/mukund-gnanadesikan-64483440/" target= "_blank" rel="follow noopener noreferrer" data-wpel-link= "exclude">Mukund Gnanadesikan</a> is a psychiatrist.</p> <p>He shares his story and discusses his KevinMD article, "<a href= "https://www.kevinmd.com/2022/08/certainty-is-a-fading-flame-in-a-failing-body.html">Certainty is a fading flame in a failing body</a>."</p> <p><a href= "https://www.nuance.com/healthcare/campaign/info-hub/dax-for-clinicians.html?cid=7016T000002DAhAQAW&utm_campaign=NHA-OT-2023Q1-KevinMD_Podcast_AudioAd_Sept_Oct_22&utm_medium=Referral&utm_source=audio"> <img class="alignnone size-medium wp-image-424286" src= "https://www.kevinmd.com/wp-content/uploads/NuanceLogo_Horz_k-2-300x62.jpg" alt="" width="300" height="62" /></a></p> <p><em>This episode is sponsored by the <a href= "https://www.nuance.com/healthcare/campaign/info-hub/dax-for-clinicians.html?cid=7016T000002DAhAQAW&utm_campaign=NHA-OT-2023Q1-KevinMD_Podcast_AudioAd_Sept_Oct_22&utm_medium=Referral&utm_source=audio"> Nuance Dragon Ambie</a><a href= "https://www.nuance.com/healthcare/campaign/info-hub/dax-for-clinicians.html?cid=7016T000002DAhAQAW&utm_campaign=NHA-OT-2023Q1-KevinMD_Podcast_AudioAd_Sept_Oct_22&utm_medium=Referral&utm_source=audio">nt eXperience</a>.</em></p> <p class="xxxmsonormal"><em>With so many demands on their time, physicians today report record levels of burnout. Burnout is caused by many factors, one of which is clinical documentation. Studies indicate physicians spend two hours documenting care for every hour spent with patien